Gautam Gambhir blasted for 'left-right combo' experiment as Basit Ali attacks India head coach

Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali talked about India's poor loss in the second ODI against Sri Lanka National Cricket Team. He said that with the way the Rohit Sharma-led side batted, it seemed they had forgotten how to bat against the spinners.

In what was a poor batting display, India National Cricket Team failed to chase the target of 241 runs and lost the second game of the series against Sri Lanka by 32 runs. They struggled against the spinners of the opposition and ended up conceding a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

India started off the innings very highly as skipper Rohit Sharma led the assault on the bowlers. The opening batter slammed a half-century in just 29 balls and ended with an inning of 64 runs. Shubman Gill (35) supported him well, as they had an opening partnership of 97 runs.

However, after that, nothing went in India's favor as they lost wickets in a flash. They tweaked the batting order as well as trying to have a left-right combination, but it didn't work as Jeffrey Vandersay ran through the Indian batting lineup and picked 6 wickets to tilt the game in his team's favor.

Axar Patel played a fighting hand of 44 runs but didn't get the desired support in the lower order as India got all out for 208 runs and lost the game. This was the second time in the series, they failed to win the game after having a solid opening partnership.

Basit Ali touted India's batting show as a bad performance, saying that with the way they batted, it didn't seem that they are the rulers of world cricket. He also launched an attack on Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, saying that they had come into the series without practice. Speaking in a video posted on his YouTube channel, he explained:

"This is a very bad performance. I remember a movie, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. This morning, India reached the hockey semifinals of the Olympics. But in cricket, it was exactly the opposite of that. The kind of Indian batsmanship that was on the fray, it didn't seem that this is the kind of batting that rules the world.

"I also feel that Iyer and Rahul did not practice. They came into the series without practice. There are big questions. The first wicket fell on 97 that too, Rohit got out while hitting reverse. Is Rohit the only batsman in the Indian team? There is no other batsman."

I feel that India has forgotten to play spinners - Basit Ali

Basit Ali was of the opinion that Indian batters are focusing more on the T20s and, hence, they are not performing well in ODIs. He also lashed out at Gautam Gambhir for using the left-right combination, saying that he could've sent Axar Patel at 4. He added:

"Gill got out with 30-35 runs. Who will take responsibility? Will only Rohit and Virat's name be heard? What are the other players doing? Today, you can see that Axar played well. The way he played, he played accordingly. I feel after Pakistan, India have also forgotten how to bat against the spinners. Maybe because the focus was more on T20s. I feel sad seeing Shivam Dube's dismissal. He couldn't even read it from the hand. Washington Sundar got out in a similar fashion in the first match.

"Gautam Gambhir is using the wrong combination. If he wanted to use the left-right combo, Axar Patel could have come ahead and then Rishabh Pant could have played. Instead of Dube, play two wicketkeepers."